The Mustard Seed. April The Monthly Newsletter of. Pastor s Message. St. John s Evangelical Lutheran Church

Transcription

1 The Mustard Seed April 2018 The Monthly Newsletter of St. John s Evangelical Lutheran Church 47 McLachlin Street, Arnprior, Ontario K7S 2Z1 Pastor: Norine Gullons Church Office: Pastor s office hours: 9:00-Noon Tuesday and Thursday Chairperson: Ryan Zimmerling Council: Randy Zimmerling Jeff Kargus Beryl Richardson Dave Burkett Joanne Bretzlaff Cory Weckworth Elmer Leeck The Kingdom of Heaven is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field; which indeed is smaller than all seeds. But when it is grown, it is greater than the herbs, and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in its branches. Matthew 13:31-32 Dear faith family and friends, Pastor s Message Alleluia! Christ is Risen! Did you know the Easter Season lasts for 50 days? During the next few weeks, before Pentecost, we will hear the many stories of Jesus appearing to his disciples and others who followed Him. The Resurrection of Christ is a holy mystery and yet we continue to seek to believe without seeing. Now all that being said we cannot maintain the high energy levels that existed in both churches

2 The Mustard Seed April 2018 Page 2 for the next 50 days! We can however, slowly assimilate the words of the gospel - the Good News into our everyday lives and be just as delighted with how God s Spirit has infused life and breath into our lives and into our churches in the wonderful HOPE that Easter brings. 1Peter 1:3 - our Easter bulletin said in His great mercy, He has given us new birth into a living HOPE through the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Our Lenten journey culminated in the death of three important men in our two Lutheran faith communities. Frank Kropp, Rev. Fred. Haak, and Gord Obst. They led us all to the cross of Good Friday with their faith and commitment to their Lutheran churches and their families. Maundy Thursday worship and Seder Supper was meticulously prepared by the members of St. James and 35 people stayed for an evening of food and fellowship. Good Friday worship 74 people were in attendance. That was amazing! People didn t have any idea that 12 of our dramatic readers were about to convey the Passion story. Easter Sunday began with children s messages, chocolate eggs, gourmet breakfast, a Puppet Show and the need to gather as a faith community of family and friends to celebrate the Risen Christ. (If you want to clear a room quickly of children just tell them an Easter egg hunt is next and gone...) Our liveliness doesn t end with Easter. It continues as we step into spring with all of our joys and struggles. Within this newsletter there are invitations for you to participate in the life of your faith community this April. EVERY BUNNY IS WELCOME to come and join us! Christ is Risen indeed! Alleluia! St James E. Lutheran Church, Renfrew extends an invitation to St John's E. Lutheran Church, Arnprior to join us on Sunday April 22 10:00 Worship Service Guest speaker: Rev. Doug Reble Assistant to the Bishop of the Eastern Synod St James is providing the total Luncheon that will follow the

3 The Mustard Seed April 2018 Page 3 March Event Calendar Sunday 8 th Worship Service with Holy Communion 10:30 a.m. Second Sunday of Easter Tuesday 10 th The BIG GIVE local meeting Glad Tidings Pentecostal Church, Arnprior 6:00 p.m. Wednesday - 11 th - Pastor attending Synod Council Meeting Monday 16 th Kitchener Saturday 14 th Men s Breakfast at Jim s Restaurant 8:30 a.m. Sunday 15 th Service of the Word 10:30 a.m. The Apostle John and Doubting Thomas visit for worship Monday 16 th Church Council Meeting at St. John s 7:30 p.m. Sunday 22 nd Joint Worship Service in Renfrew with Holy Communion with Assistant to the Bishop Rev. Doug Reble 10:00 a.m. Luncheon served by St. James Renfrew - see invitation on page 2 Saturday 28 th Camp Clean-up Day at Lutherlyn Camp & Conference Centre Contact Randy Zimmerling if you can help out Sunday 29 th Worship Service with Holy Communion 10:30 a.m. Friday May 4 th Set-up for Garage Sale at St. John s Please contact Beryl or Barb for more details or if you can help Saturday May 5 th GARAGE SALE at St. John s Arnprior 8:00 a.m. 2:00 p.m. See the ad on page 6 for more details Sunday May 6 th Worship Service with Holy Communion 10:30 a.m. 12:30 Annual Walk for Hospice Renfrew See ad on page 8 for more information Sign up in the Narthex if you would like to sponsor communion, bulletins or provide flowers for the altar in memory of a loved one or to honour a special event.

4 The Mustard Seed April 2018 Page 4 Council Meeting Minutes - March 19, 2018 Pastor Norine opened with devotions and prayer, after which the minutes from the February 19, 2018 meeting were approved with one minor addition Action Items from the previous meeting were reviewed. Pastor s Report: Pastor presented her activity log for the previous month. Pastor informed council of a new Pastor being installed at St. Peter s Lutheran Church in Ottawa. The installation will take place on Sunday, April 15, 2018 at 4 pm. Pastor discussed the Eastern Synod convention and Randy Z. indicated that he would be willing to represent St. John s. Nomination forms for National Convention must be sent by April 22, Pastor will be away April 15, Maureen will do Children's Message, Andy will read the Sermon and Jeff will lead the Service of the Word. Pastor has been working with our guest organist for the Palm Sunday, Good Friday and Easter services: Lynne Z. Pastor and Randy Z led a discussion around the process of choosing hymns. They would like others to be involved in the vetting process. Several names were put forward. Financial Report: Randy Z presented the Profit and Losses Report which indicated that, at the time of the Council Meeting, we were $1,100 better than budgeted. The Balance Sheet remains unchanged. A summary of our financial situation will be presented in one of the upcoming bulletins to inform the congregation. Banking: Randy Z. visited all the major banks and the local Credit Union and produced a comparison chart. After careful consideration, he moved that we stay with Scotia Bank, of which Council voted and approved. Basement, Floors and Painting: Painting of the basement is almost complete (looks great). The back stairway, entrance and Sunday School room still need to be painted. Randy Z received three quotes for the basement foundation repairs which, at this time, are not necessary. We will continue to monitor the foundation as spring progress to see if there is any leakage. Council agreed that the Lenten Offering should be directed to Benevolence. Committee Reports: CLWR/Food Bank: Jeff K reported that he and Pastor presented the $1000 cheque to the food bank for the Snack Pack Program. The Compassionate Justice Grant is funded by Synod. Jeff will include this item in the next Newsletter. Altar Guild: Beryl R. reported that we are changing to battery operated candles for Christmas services. Other Business: Easter Breakfast: Volunteers be at the church at 8:00 am, and breakfast will start at 9:15 am. Puppet Skit for Easter: Ryan Z asked if it would be possible to use a microphone in the theatre to amplify the children's voices. Dave B and Randy Z will investigate solutions. The Easter Ad prepared by Metroland had several problems, which Randy Z corrected. Council discussed a Scent Free Policy such as "No Scent makes good sense" please be responsible. Respectfully submitted on behalf of church council, Ryan Zimmerling

5 The Mustard Seed April 2018 Page 5 Remembering Pastor Fred Haak June 13, 1938 March 14, 2018 Pastor Haak served the faith community for over 50 years! Farewell to Gord, Recently we gathered with Gord s family and close friends to celebrate his life and to express our condolences for their loss. In her homily, Pastor Norine shared humourous and heart felt stories of Gord s life and summed up with a moving story of dementia as a thief. Well done Pastor. Gord s contributions to this congregation over his life were noteworthy: many terms on council serving as chairperson of property committee and ending with chairperson of council he and Floss were the people who annually cleaned our cabin(bethesda) at Lutherlyn Camp Gord never had a problem getting people to help out-people genuinely wanted to work with him I was there for his first meeting as council chairperson. He started out by saying he was not a public speaker and didn t like meetings. He preferred to do things vs. talk about them. Then he went on to run one of the best church council meetings I have attended: he stuck to the plan, he listened to everyone, he ensured that decisions were made when needed and he led by example. In the early years when lay preaching was not widely accepted as an alternative when our minister was away, Gord was one of the first congregation members to embrace the idea and offer much needed encouragement. His standard behavior for a church member was to praise in public and criticize in private. We will miss him. Randy

6 The Mustard Seed April 2018 Page 6 St. John s Lutheran Church Indoor Garage Sale May 5 th, :00 a.m. 2:00 p.m. 47 McLachlin St. S, Arnprior Rain or Shine Come out and enjoy a free coffee or tea! If you, your family or friends have items to donate, please bring them to the church. We are accepting household items, furniture, decorations, linens, books, children s clothing up to age 6, and toys. If you are available to help with set-up on Friday, the day of the sale, cleaning up afterwards or if you have any questions, please contact Barbara Formuziewich or Beryl Richardson. Pastor Norine and Jeff present a cheque for $ on behalf of St. John s to the Arnprior and District Food Bank. The cheque is part of compassionate justice grants from the ELCIC and the funds go to directly support the Children s Snack Pack Program at the Food Bank.

7 The Mustard Seed April 2018 Page 7 Easter Breakfast Update A special thank you to everyone who helped set up, cook, serve and attend the Easter breakfast. Approximately $469 was raised in support of our roof renovation project! Over 50 people enjoyed the delicious pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage, toast and social time before our Easter Sunday Service. Many Thanks To Lynn for the children's delightful Easter gifts of mini bunny hats for both churches. They brought smiles to all. All the dramatic readers on Good Friday WOW, YOU ALL BLEW EVERYONE OUT OF THEIR PEWS!!! CONGRATS on your readings... you all read your parts very well and almost had Pastor in tears. 74 people were in attendance. Regular members had no idea this was going to happen. Here are some comments from Good Friday Service. from a long-time member - "that was the best Good Friday service I have ever been to! "thank you for the costumes - it helped to put us into character." "unbelievable - it made the Passion story come to life " absolutely excellent" "so much more meaningful than listening to someone just read " Pastor Norine and Ryan The puppet show had a very real and memorable message The work behind the scenes helps to galvanize us a congregation The turn out was a fitting tribute to the hard work and leadership you both have shown Randy For making Easter Sunday breakfast a reality. Your commitment and leadership ensured that it was an amazing success. The church basement was full of people engaged in discussions. Everyone had nothing but praise and positivity about the men s breakfast! The dedicated folks working on and painting our basement and entranceways. If you haven t seen it yet, please check it out!

8 The Mustard Seed April 2018 Page 8 Hike for Hospice Renfrew YOU can support the hospice serving our local community and beyond by Donating to the St. John s Lutheran, Arnprior Hike for Hospice Team or Coming out and joining our team! For information and contributions: Randy Zimmerling randyzimmerling@hotmail.com Sunday May

9 The Mustard Seed April 2018 Page 9 Don t Forget! Important Dates Apr. 27 th and 28 th Dunbar Yard Sale in support of Hospice Renfrew. For more information contact Pastor Norine. Apr. 28 th - Lutherlyn Camp Clean-up -contact Randy Z. if you can help. April 14 th 8:30 a.m. Jim s Restaurant In Arnprior Please consider joining us for good food and good conversation! May 6 th - Hike for Hospice Renfrew (registration at 12:30) contact Enid for more information. May 12 th Church roof repair project contact Randy Z. if you can help Galilee Events Apr. 18th and 19th Spirituality and Aging Transitions and Transformations "To be or not to be is not the question, the vital question is how to be and how not to be..." Abraham Joshua Heschel Team Dunbar - Fundraising in support of Hospice Renfrew April 27th, 8am-8pm April 28th, 8am-3pm HUGE INDOOR YARD SALE AT DUNBAR'S FARM 1822 The Queens Line (Storyland Road past The Four Corners) BBQ BAKE SALE RAFFLE BASKETS TV DRAW Donations of gently used items for the sale will be accepted from the public April 15th- 26th by pre-arranging drop off with Bert Dunbar, Thank you for your support! For more information speak to Pastor. For more information speak to Maureen R. or Debbie Witt

10 The Mustard Seed April 2018 Page 10 A Dramatic Presentation of the Passion Story Photos on this page are courtesy of Lynn Rosien

11 The Mustard Seed April 2018 Page 11 Every Bunny Welcome! Photos on this page courtesy of Lorne Rueckwald

12 The Mustard Seed April 2018 Page 12 This is the day which the Lord hath made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it Psalm 118:24 Postings in the Narthex Eastern Synod Lutheran Monthly Newsletter (or access online at: Upcoming events at Galilee Centre website at Galilee Centre Events Friends of Galilee, a volunteer support group, has limited funds available to assist individuals in covering the costs of programs offered by Galilee Centre. Please contact: Edith Boucher: Tel: or Guy and Marian Brethour: Tel: or brethour@bell.net for more information. Helpers for Ushering and Counting are needed! If you can help for a Sunday, please sign up in the Narthex. VOLUNTEER SCHEDULE FOR APRIL 2018 SUNDAY USHERS READING COFFEE/SOCIAL COUNTERS Apr. 8 th Elmer and Marion Leeck Enid Blackwell Maureen and Lorne Rueckwald Elmer and Marion Leeck Apr. 15 th Elmer and Marion Leeck Debbie or Jeff Kargus Marion and Mel Bretzlaff Elmer and Marion Leeck Apr. 22 nd ** We are at St. James in Renfrew for service and lunch provided by St. James Apr. 29 th Elmer and Marion Leeck Mark Boese Deb and Jeff Kargus Elmer and Marion Leeck Thank you, volunteers! If you would like to help out, please sign-up in the Narthex! Note: Volunteers are needed weekly. Free training is available! If interested, talk to a council member. Website: Church-Arnprior/